Did you ever think that your mailbox would become a trash receptacle literally overflowing with junk mail? Do you remember a time when you thought receiving mail was neat? You couldn't figure out why Mom and Dad sighed every time they headed for the mailbox, while you were hopping up and down asking if there was anything in the pile addressed to you. Unfortunately, nothing much has changed over the years, except the amount of coupons, grocery store circulars, time-share condo mailers and credit card offers: it's all increased. Turns out, being an adult means dealing with a lot of minutia, and most of it comes in the mail.

Now that e-mail has become the communication method of choice, making daily interactions on both personal and business levels easy and instant, junk e-mail has infiltrated your life, too. Everyone agrees that it is frustrating, infuriating, exasperating and down-right exhausting to deal with the deluge of direct-mail marketing and spam day in and day out. More and more, companies are clamoring for your patronage and, for some reason, they think junk mail and spam are the ways to win you over. But there are steps you can take to stop junk mail and junk e-mail - and it's easier than you think.

Junk Mail and the Environment That is a lot of Tuesday Morning weekly circulars! The regrettable truth is that most of the junk mail is not being recycled, but thrown into the trash.

Not only are millions of trees destroyed to print junk mail, energy and resources are burned to destroy it in a way that negatively impacts the environment. When you decide to stop junk mail from wasting the precious bill space in your mailbox, you can feel good that you are doing something nice for the environment as a whole.

Spam a Lot?The Internet is a useful tool, both individually and professionally; however, it is rather exasperating to find junk e-mail constantly littering your inbox. An estimated 14.5 billion spam e-mails are sent globally every day, making up a staggering 45% of all e-mails, with the United States as the No. 1 generator of spam, according to Spamlaws.com.

Direct-marketing techniques are more aggressively encroaching on your cyber territory, and the technical equivalent of school-yard bullies using their powers for evil are even harder at work spamming you with Trojan horses and viruses just to be mean! And not only is spam annoying, but it costs you money. Financial and identity theft, as well as deceptive marketing practices, are a growing problem. To top it off, junk e-mail forces you to purchase protective filtering software to stop the invasion of your computer.

Streamline Your MailboxAlthough it may be impossible to avoid junk mail and block junk e-mail altogether, there are ways to put the brakes on and slow it to a trickle. Most direct-mail marketers get your contact information from one of three sources: Abacus Catalog Alliance, Direct Marketing Association or one of the credit bureaus. Making sure that your name is removed from these lists should significantly reduce unwanted junk mail. Here is what you do:

Abacus Catalog Alliance - If you wish to opt out of unwanted catalogs, you can visit Abacusoptout.com. You have the choice to opt out via e-mail by sending your full name (including middle initial), your current address and your previous address, if you have not been at your current residence for more than six months, to optout@epsilon.com. If you prefer to send your request via snail mail, send a written letter with the same information above, along with your request to be excluded, to Epsilon Data Services, P.O. Box 1478, Broomfield, CO, 80038.

Direct Marketing Association - To be excluded from receiving brochures and fliers, go to Dmaconsumers.org/cgi/offmailing and fill out their online form. There is a $1 processing fee, which you have the option to pay with a credit card. If you prefer, you can download the form, print and fill it out, then mail it with your check or money order for $1 to Mail Preference Service, P.O. Box 282, Carmel, NY10512.

OptOutPrescreen.com - A joint venture of the major credit bureaus, here you can opt out of receiving credit card and insurance offers. When you enter the site, click the Opt Out button at the bottom of the page. You will have the option of opting out for five years via e-mail, or permanently via mail.

These services will stop a majority of the junk mail you receive daily, but it will not prevent you from receiving junk mail completely. If you do continue to receive mailers you do not want, look at the fine print to locate instructions for opting out of those materials as well. Contacting each of the companies individually is a bit time consuming, but it is the only sure way to stop their mailings.

Eliminating SpamTo help ensure that your inbox stays clear of useless junk e-mail, your Internet service provider has filters that automatically take suspicious e-mails and place them in a “junk” or “bulk” folder. As you know, these filters are not perfect, and sometimes spam makes its way through to your inbox while notes from your best friend get bogged down in your spam folder. If you want to do more, spam filtering software is available for a fee.

There are an infinite number of programs to choose from, but Consumer Reports Magazine recommends purchasing a product suite for two reasons: they offer the simplicity of a single program with the added benefit of features that many stand-alone products do not offer. Some also include registration for as many as three computers, making them potential money savers if you have multiple computers in your home. Consumer Reports' four top "quick picks" are:

An End in Sight to the Never-Ending BattleThere is no doubt you've heard of - and possibly signed up for - the National Do Not Call Registry. It is a fabulous, one-stop, centralized system for helping consumers end the barrage of telemarketing calls that were causing phones everywhere to ring off the hook at dinner time. It was congress’ answer to the legislation nearly three dozen states had enacted on their own to help consumers end the unwelcome interruption of constant telemarketing phone calls from thousands of companies. Today, 14 states have written legislation to create centralized “Do Not Junk” lists.

Likewise, Internet Service Providers are always on the lookout for ways to better spam filtering and halt the ceaseless stream of junk email into your inbox. There is ongoing debate as to who is responsible for putting an end to spamming and whether it should be the government or ISPs. As that discussion carries on, spam continues to pile up in your email inbox. Alas for now, your best bet for keeping your sanity and ending junk mail is signing up on opt out lists and using spam filters along with your delete key.

Are You Resourceful?Are you resourceful? Resourcefulness can help you be a great leader at home or at work. Are you capable and clever, with a strong ability to use all the materials at hand to overcome an obstacle? Or are you always scrambling to find someone else to do it for you? Your resourcefulness level can give you insight into your ability to get things done efficiently and easily. Take the resourcefulness quiz to find out if you are a resourceful problem solver or an inflexible problem creator!